Documentation of My Fun Employment Experience (Among Other Things)

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Monthly Archives: December 2013

It would be like the “Ghetto Hikes” website, but not nearly as funny. There isn’t much kids can say about the environment when their surroundings consist of ugly blue walls and a couple windows. I have genuinely enjoyed work since I’ve been there with the exception of two days. After I thought about it, the days that feel like work are typically the days that I feel as if I’m not making an impact or that I’ve been causing harm.

I had a rough chain of events this week. A lot of the clients go home for Christmas and then return to the facility once their pass has ended. They must be thoroughly checked in so that they cannot bring anything in they’re not supposed to. I checked in a client along with the help of a supervisor from another unit. Despite these precautions, the client brought in a razor blade and used it to inflict self-harm. That night I was able to use my first aid training and earned some overtime sitting in the ER until 3:30AM. We checked the client in again when we returned from the hospital. The next shift I worked two days later, I was responsible for failing to immediately notice the client using scissors to remove the stitches… Rough days.

Working has given me more motivation and conviction to apply for clinical mental health programs – maybe “motivation” is a strong word. I’m working on figuring out how to manage my time with a full-time job that actually enables me to have daylight hours to accomplish something. So far that has been sleep, spinning, running, and miscellaneous lounging. My solution is to start making to-do lists for each day with a day of flexibility. I never know when I’ll be up until 4:30AM…